Breschel recovering

Team CSC's Matti Breschel was happy to come out of the Ronde van Vlaanderen with no broken bones - the Dane crashed hard on the approach to the Oude Kwaremont climb but hopes to recover for the remaining Spring Classics. "Of course it's too bad, what happened, but I have to remain positive and hope that I'll be ready for Gent-Wevelgem and Paris-Roubaix," he said on the team's website, team-csc.com.

"My arm still hurts quite a bit and it's black and blue around the elbow. When I was lying there on the asphalt I kept thinking I'd broken it, because it hurt so bad - and still does - every time I try to move my hand. But luckily the x-rays showed no signs of any fractures."

Breschel isn't yet sure whether he will be ready to race again this week or not. "I can't quite hold on to the bike probably yet so I'll stick to the home-trainer for now, and then we'll have to wait and see if it's any better tomorrow. It's no use me being in the race on Wednesday if I'm not one hundred percent, but I really hope this will pass quickly because I'm in great shape at the moment."

The crash occurred during the craziness that is the Ronde van Vlaanderen. "It was during the fight for positions ahead of Oude Kwaremont - it got a bit crazy like always," he explained. "There were cars parked by the side of the road, but the riders were all over the place - in between the spectators, on the bike path on the other side of the cars and on the road. All of a sudden someone came out from the bike path wanting to get back onto the road, which resulted in him crashing right in front of me, and there was absolutely nothing I could do."